Ikari Shinji: Pilot, Savior, Prince?
by DhampyrX2
Summary: In the age before First Impact a lone warrior remained to stand against the horror that the Angel wrought. He failed. Throughout the following ages he has been reborn to try to save humanity in times of strife. Now, after the end of Second Impact, and
1. Prologue Chapter 1 Part 1

Title: Ikari Shinji: Pilot, Savior, Prince?

Author: DhampyrX2

Genre: Drama/humor X-over

Rating: PG-13 to R at some point

Disclaimer: I don't own these characters. Don't sue me, I'm poor.

Summary: Well, here's the start of the NGE/DBZ cross I suggested in on some of the message boards I belong to. Hope you like it. Comments and reviews are most welcome.

* * *

The skies were red as blood as the shockwave rocked the planet. All over the world the wailing of man and animal alike shrieked out to the heavens in the hopes of finding salvation as the end came for them.

Unfortunately, the closest thing to divine intervention in the form of Dende-sama was stopped by the sheer nature of what was taking place. The old Nameksejin's hands were tied by forces well beyond him.

And humanity's last hope had just died a gruesome death as he fought a battle none of his remaining fellow Z-Senshi could fight. After Trunks, Bra, and Kakarotto's brood had passed either through old age or in battle, Vegeta, at the spry age of 435, was the last Super Saiyajin left. Sadly, that distinction meant the old and gray Saiyajin-no-ouji was severely out-gunned and without backup when he faced his last adversary. He barely lasted five minutes before his heart gave out under the strain of an attempt to ascend to SSJ2, as his enemy tore him apart.

The Angel had won, and human and dinosaur alike would perish in the inferno of what would be later known as First Impact.

But that is only the beginning...

"**SEND ME BACK RIGHT NOW YOU MISERABLE BASTARD OR I SWEAR BY THE GODS OF VEGETA-SEI THAT I'LL SEND YOU TO THE DEPTHS OF HELL MYSELF IN SO MANY PIECES THEY'LL NEVER BE ABLE TO PUT YOUR OVERGROWN OGRE'S BODY BACK TOGETHER AGAIN!**" a much younger looking Vegeta snapped as he stood in front of the desk of the great Enma-sama, god of the dead. (That's King Yamma to you poor dub name only souls.)

The giant red deity began to sweat as the diminutive prince then went on a rather impressive tirade about the Angel and how he was limited by his own failing body but that he'd teach the beast some respect when he returned in his proper form.

"It's not that simple, Vegeta," Enma-sama finally sighed. "You are truly dead, and no sentient life on Earth can wish you back now. Only Goku, Dende and Mr. Popo remain. Unfortunately, they are forbidden from using the Dragon Balls for various reasons.

"That had better be a sick joke, red man. I did not spend the last four and a quarter or so centuries, far longer than any Saiyajin has ever lived, protecting the Onna's home world just to be told I failed now. Send. Me. Back," Vegeta bit out in a low and deadly tone of voice.

"I can not, Vegeta. It is your time. Please accept that," Enma-sama replied with a tired frown. With that said, the king of the dead looked into his logs on his table for a moment. "Now, let's get the formalities out of the way, shall we? Not that we're not already well acquainted," he added with a forced chuckle. "Prince Vegeta, married name Vegeta Briefs, soul-bond mate to Bulma Briefs and last Saiyajin-no-ouji. You spent most of your early life in slavery to the damned warlord Frieza committing unspeakable evils, but spent the vast majority of your later life as a defender of your mate's home planet of Earth. Your karmic balance is such that...oh. Oh my."

"What?" Vegeta snapped irritably. "Have I earned a spot in Hell too close to Frieza and Cell for your comfort? Am I late for the great villains poker tournament in the lake of fire? Is Piccolo claiming I owe him money? Spit it out already!"

"You are not bound for Hell, Vegeta," Enma-sama assured him.

"Lucky me," Vegeta snorted, although those that knew him well would detect a small bit of hope in his voice buried under the disdain. Perhaps he would be reunited with his Onna, after all.

"You are **not** however, pure enough for heaven," Enma continued.

"Imagine that," Vegeta retorted sarcastically. _Damn. So much for seeing Bulma._ he thought to himself.

"Normally, as you know from the second time you died against Majin Buu, this would mean your mind would be wiped and your soul sent for reincarnation. Unfortunately, I doubt you will consent to that as an option now," Enma-sama said with a long look at the now smug prince before him.

Just to twist the knife a bit, Vegeta silently ascended to SSJ4, a form his ageless soul-self was no longer denied by a failing and aged body. "No, I don't think it's an option at all," the prince agreed with a smug grin.

Enma lat out a tired sigh as he contemplated his options. There just had to be a peaceful resolution to this...wait. That might work. "Vegeta, perhaps we can come to a compromise," he began.

Many millennia later

"Hoah, whoa! Misato-san, what's going on? Misato-san! Asuka, Ayanami, cover me!  
Misato-san, can you hear me, Misato-san!" Ikari Shinji cried over the tac net from the cockpit of his Unit 01 as he was sucked in to the shadow of the twelveth Angel.

"Hm. Eject plug! Send the signal!" Katsuragi Misato, his commander, roommate, and legal guardian cried to the tech around her.

"No use. There's no response," Ibuki Maya responded as she worked furiously to save the fourteen year old pilot.

"Misato-san, Misato-san!" Shinji cried out in desperation

"Shinji-kun!" Misato cried back with equal despair as the last of Unit 01 disappeared from sight and was sucked into the Sea of Dirac.

End Prologue

* * *

Okay, here's part of the next part...

"blah" is talking

_blah_ is thinking

"_blah_" is Vegeta talking. (He is in Shinji's mind after all)

* * *

"I never thought sleeping could exhaust me," Shinji muttered to himself as he floated withing the LCL of his entry plug and contemplated his circumstances wherever the Angel had trapped him.

Eventually, he activated his monitor again to check for signs of life or rescue. "Still only white noise. Radar and sonar have gotten no response," he thought aloud.

"This space must be too vast. Why does that seem so familiar? For some reason I remember a room. A room with infinite food. And fighting? No, I'm no fighter. I must be imagining things," he mused as he checked the time on the monitors.

"It's been 12 hours since I switched to the life-support-mode. Huh...My life will end in 4 or 5 hours...feel hungry...I was always hungry I think...I could really go for some of that food. Even Misato's cooking," Shinji rambled.

_"...don't be too hasty. The Onna still can't cook..."_ a voice long forgotten muttered hazily on the edge of Ikari-san's consciousness.

/A COUPLE OF HOURS LATER/

"Mm...The water is getting muddy! Hhug...Purification capacity is decreasing..." Shinji muttered as he began to feel as if he was choking on the LCL that was meant to sustain him in the EVA.

"Hah. Mm,mm... it smells. Blood, it smells of blood," Shinji whispered in exhaustion.

"_I remember that smell. It's invigorating isn't it? A part of our very soul._" the fuzzy voice murmured in a louder, gruffer tone.

"Ha... No! I hate this place! Why can't I open this lock! Open! Let me out!" Shinji denied angrily.

"_That's what happens when you rely on machines to do your fighting. Even one like this that we're connected to. We were always much stronger than THIS before. You shouldn't have trusted those so called teachers of ours. We'd have won by now if you hadn't,_" the voice reprimanded imperially.

"Misato-san, what's going on! Misato-san!" Shinji cried out in fear.

"_Onna. My onna. Our mate. I miss you so, even if I had a hard time telling you what was in my cold dead heart._"

"Asuka!"

"_Daughter_"

"Ayanami!"

"_...not too sure about her..._"

"Eee! Ritusko-san! hhug..."

"_Nice rack on that one, but don't trust her. She looks shifty to us whether you admit it or not. Her eyes are sad. They reflect sins unspoken._"

"Father..."

"_Mudering bastard. We'll stop you this time. You won't have me killed again. And I'll send you to meet Freiza. You're already just like him. You'll have fun being his bitch_" the voice growled darkly.

"hhug, cough, m, g, mm, Please, help me..." Shinji muttered pitifully, certain he was loosing his mind.

"_Stupid boy, I'm trying to. We have to help ourself first. But you have to remember first. You have to let us reconnect! **OW!** I KNOW I'm being rough on him damn it! He needs the push if we're to win. Just because you're our mother here doesn't give you the right to strike someone of my lineage, Yui! If you'd get off your ass and help toughen him up instead of acting like an immature Oozaru when he gets knocked out maybe I wouldn't have to act like this!_" the voice replied as it seemed to be having two conversations at once.

"Yui. I remember that name," Shinji whispered.

"_You should. She's been hitting me upside the head for eight of the last nine of these baka Angel things._" the voice replied petulantly.

And with that, Shinji smiled.

* * *

"Forced salvaging of Eva?" Misato demanded from the command station as they talked over their options to retrieve Shinji. Truthfully, a part of her almost wanted to tell to go screw herself because the young pilot would be just fine. She was certain nothing could kill her Shin-chan.

Ritsuko looked as dispassionate as possible as she replied, "It's the only way that might be possible. Dropping 992 existing N2 depth charges in the central portion,  
timed to within 1 millisecond of using the two existing Eva's A.T. Fields to interfere with the imaginary circuit of the Angel. In that moment, we concentrate enough explosive energy to break the Angel along with the Dirac's Sea that forms its body."

Misato was looking at her long time friend as if she were mad as she replied, "But, you know Eva's body can't... Shinji-kun wouldn't... Hell, this is no rescue operation."

Ritsuko tried to hide the guilt and sympathy she felt as she stated the Commander's feelings on the operation to Shinji's guardian. "In this operation, salvage of the body of Unit One has the number one priority over all else. We do not care if the body is destroyed," she admitted evenly.

That piece of information certainly raised Misato's ire as she exclaimed, "Wait a second!"

Ritsuko looked utterly lifeless as she responded, "In this case, the pilot's life is of no concern."

"Mgg," Misato grunted as she showed the doctor just what she thought of that idea as she grabbed the faux blond tightly at the collar and tried to restrain herself from throttling her or putting a bullet in her head.

"Aw!" Ritusko exclaimed in fright as she saw just how deadly serious Misato's eyes were in that moment. "If Shinji-kun is lost, it's your fault. Just remember that," she warned in an effort to shock the woman into letting her go.

Misato released her one time friend as she demanded, "What's the reason you and Commander Ikari are so worried about Unit One? What is Eva?"

Ritsuko looked more wary than even the situation demanded as she responded, "The material I gave you tells you everything regarding Eva."

"Bullshit," the purple headed bombshell asserted with finality.

Ritsuko tried to assuage some of Misato's obvious concerns as she adopted a sympathetic look and said, "Trust me, Misato. I am commanding everything in this operation. We will forward all flights to the Kankuu airport. Contact the Air Control and Air Transport Divisions of the JDAF."

As the bottle blond spoke, Misato thought to herself, _Second Impact, Project Instrumentality, Adam. There are many secrets I'm in the dark about..._

And deep in her mind, well below what she would ever register or hear in her head, a similar voice shouted "_You damned well better get out of this alright Vegetable-head!_"

At that thought not-quite rang through her head, Misato began to scratch idly at the nape of her neck, just where it met her collarbone on her right hand side.

* * *

"Who? Who?" Shinji deliriously wondered aloud as his vision began to cycle between light and dark. before his eyes. It was as if the EVA around him had melted away. finally, his mind seemed to conjure a round room, filled with athletic training equipment like weights and punching bags of all kinds, for him to stand in. As Shinji stood there and looked around he could swear the gravity in the room was heavier than is should be. And that the controls near the door and the video monitor looked too...advanced compared to even what he had seen at NERV. Where was he?

"IKARI Shinji," the gruff voice from before sounded from all around the boy.

"That's me," Shinji replied, although he sounded unsure even as he said it. then again, he usually sounded unsure when he said anything, so that didn't mean much.

"I am you," the voice declared with a palpable note of distaste. "One has another self within oneself. The "self" always consisted of two selves," the voice continued as if giving a school lecture.

"Two?" Shinji inquired curiously.

"Don't interrupt you idiot human brat!" the voice snapped, making Shinji jump in fright. the exclamation was followed be the sound of a meaty slap and the voice calling out "Argh! Alright already you damned onna. I'm getting to it. It's not my fault I keep getting sent back as these pathetic humans. They can't even compare to Kakarotto's cue ball friend or that three eyed idiot anymore."

Shinji looked on in confusion as the voice went on, "As I was saying, the self who is actually watched by others and the self which watches itself:

IKARI Shinji in your mind.

IKARI Shinji in KATSURAGI Misato's mind.

IKARI Shinji in Soryuu Asuka's mind.

IKARI Shinji in AYANAMI Rei's mind.

IKARI Shinji in IKARI Gendou's mind.

Each IKARI Shinji is different from the others, but each of them is a true IKARI Shinji. You're afraid of the IKARI Shinji in others' minds."

Shinji seemed to understand a bit as he declared, "I'm afraid of being hated."

The voice countered, "You hate being hurt. Who is bad? Father is bad. The Father who deserted us."

"I am bad," Shinji sadly replied with an air of defeat.

That was all the voice could stand of the defeatist attitude as Shinji heard the sound of steps stomping toward him from behind. He turned to face the coming sound, unsure of what he would see, only to see someone he had not 'seen' since he was a child of no more than six. It was a figure roughly his height now, minus his wildly gravity defying hair, dressed in a blue bodysuit with white and gold chest armor, along with matching white and gold boots and gloves.

"Veggie-sama?" Shinji asked in shock as the the figure hauled off and punched Shinji in the gut, which immediately brought the EVA pilot to his knees.

"That Prince Vegeta, Saiyajin-no-ouji to you, brat. And I'm sick and damned tired of hearing you belittling yourself under the manipulations of that moronic, would-be Frieza bastard you call a father," the prince of all Saiyajins replied with a sneer.

"But, but...but you're just my imaginary friend from when I was was little. How? What? Oh, God I've cracked up waiting to die," the boy lamented as he tried to get his wind back, so to speak, from the punch.

"Quit your whining! You were never like this before until you let that so called sensei your bastard father left you with convince you I wasn't real! Look at what you've become. It's disgusting! Scraping for praise from that worthless fool! Even a monster as I once was learned to love his own! Rokubungi Gendo is nothing but human refuse unfit for the name IKARI!" Vegeta declared proudly.

"Oh, God, I've gone mad," Shinji whined in fright.

"You aren't crazy, BAKA! I'm just a part of you. A memory in the back of your pathetic human brain. A THIRD you, so to speak," Vegeta asserted with snort of revulsion.

"You're what? But how?" Shinji wondered with a look that bordered somewhere between horror, awe, and great respect.

"Now **that** is a story that will sound insane," Vegeta responded with an annoyed huff as he prepared to explain just what was going on to the youngest living Ikari.

...And I think I'll end it there for now.


	2. Chapter 1, Part 2

Title: Ikari Shinji: Pilot, Savior, Prince?

Author: DhampyrX2

Genre: Drama/humor X-over

Rating: PG-13 to R at some point

Disclaimer: I don't own these characters. Don't sue me, I'm poor.

Summary: Well, here's the start of the NGE/DBZ cross I suggested in the ideas area. Hope you like it. Comments and reviews are most welcome.

* * *

"blah" is talking

_blah_ is thinking

"_blah_" is Vegeta talking

* * *

It took what seemed like hours to explain Vegeta's failed final battle to prevent First Impact, but in reality it probably only took a few minutes.

"So, you were there? You saw first Impact?" Shinji asked in awe. He was relatively certain he had cracked and was having a some kind of stress hallucination, but it was still interesting.

"Not exactly," Vegeta admitted. "I fought the angel, but I was already more than two centuries past my prime by then. I was elderly and decrepit. It was a testament to years of training and mental discipline that I was able to reach the first level of Super Saiyajin. I tried for the second because I wasn't getting the job done and my heart gave out. The Angel didn't let me live long enough after that to even fall to my death. Still, I went out a warrior in battle. All three times I died as myself, I died a warrior in battle. No Saiyajin could ask for more," he elaborated. After a pause to think, he asked, "You do remember what I told you about me when you were small don't you?"

"You were the last full-blooded prince of your people, and the last prince all together, I guess, because you outlived your heirs and by the fourth generation none of them seemed to show any traits of your race anymore besides your ferocious appetite. You come from the planet Vegeta-sei, which was subjugated by the planet broker Frieza who enslaved and humiliated your people until he grew to fear you and destroyed your home world. Only six of you survived the destruction, you, Nappa, Radditz, Turles, Brolly, and Kakarotto, who liked to be called Goku because he was a brain damaged idiot clown. You died twice before your final death, but were resurrected each time. The first time by the Dragon Balls after Frieza killed you, the second by a deal made with Enma-sama after you used a kamikaze attack against Majin Buu. You're here to guide me in my destiny and help me reach my potential. That's all I really recall," Shinji recounted dutifully, as if in a mission briefing at NERV.

Vegeta looked at the boy for a long time before he folded his arms and grunted. "Not bad," he admitted. It was high praise from the likes of the Saiyajin-no-ouji.

"Thanks," Shiji responded timidly.

That response brought back the angry Vegeta that had been there for most of the conversation. "Don't start that stupid weak willed kow-towing again, brat. Out of all people, I'm the least one you should feel subjugated toward. And the one you should listen to the most," Vegeta snapped.

"Huh?" Shiji asked in equal parts fear and confusion.

Vegeta tried to think of how to word his thoughts, but finally sighed as he walked over to weight bench in his gravity room he had constructed in the corner of Shinji's mind they were currently conversing in, for that was where they were. "Let me explain the rest of it, and maybe you'll understand," he began with no little amount of frustration in his tone. "I'm a part of you, but I'm not something your imagination came up with. Millions of years ago, before First Impact, I was a very real person. Everything I ever told you was true. What I never got the chance to explain is how we're connected. After I died I was sent before Enma-sama as normal. Now, on Earth I was limited to SSJ-1 by my advanced age, something unheard of for a Saiyajin because we all died in combat long before the ravages of age took us. But, in the realm of the dead you are what your soul knows you to be, with all your skills and abilities at their peak. I was a young man fully capable of the upper reaches of SSJ-4, something age was already beginning to deny me even as I had reached that level because I had stunted my early growth into my power under Frieza's yoke without realizing it. Are you following me so far?" the prince asked.

"Yes, sir," Shinji responded with rapt attention as he began to doubt he was going as crazy as he thought he was.

"Good." Vegeta declared. "Now, one thing you must understand is that when you die there are three options depending on your karma. The first time I died I was evil and was prepped to go to Hell until I was wished back. The second and third times I dies I had done too much to warrant hell, but I wasn't pure enough to go to Heaven like Kakarotto-baka and his friends, including my mate, did. Normally this would mean my soul would be sent for reincarnation after my mind was erased. A clean slate to try again for Heaven. The only problem was that by the third time I died, I was to strong to be sent to that fate by force. Enma might have subdued a SSJ-2 my with Babidi's taint on my soul, but he could not dominate a SSJ-4 Saiyajin-no-ouji in his eternal prime. I also had no intention of letting the Onna's home be ravaged while I waited for a chance to be reborn somewhere."

"So what happened?" Shiji asked with child-like curiosity.

"The red-baka compromised. I'd be reborn and reincarnated when humans had evolved back onto the planet again, something that would have been impossible without some very illegal tweaking from Dende and Kakarotto behind the scenes. the catch was I'd be brought back on the eve of great threats to the world so I'd be old enough to fight them and clear my karmic record. I've fought more apocalypses and major disasters than I can count over thousands of years and hundreds of lives. Sometimes I won, sometimes I lost, but it always gave it my all. The only advantage I had was well...me. A copy of my true self, with all my accumulated memories would piggyback with each of my incarnations so I would have a guide to do whatever I had to do," Vegeta explained as he waited for Shiji to understand what he just told him.

When the terror and horror showed on the fourteen year old pilot's face, it was clear the prince has succeeded. "You mean I'm?" Shinji asked in alarm.

"My reincarnation. The last hope for mankind. The rightful heir of the Saiyajin-no-ouji. Yes. You're all those things, gaki. I'm you and you're me, as much as it turns my stomach to be some scrawny human weakling. Again," Vegeta spat with a superior smirk.

"Hey," Shiji uncharacteristically asserted before he realized what he had done and looked to the ground in shame.

The mighty prince smirked in appreciation at the outburst, however, as he commented, "It's about time you fought back, brat. I was beginning to think that pathetic Frieza knock-off we call your father had arranged enough conditioning to bury you completely. I wondered where the little brat I was teaching to never take anything from anyone had gone. Once you had more than the mind and soul of a Saiyajin within you. You had..."

"Pride. I had a saiyajin's pride. There's one thing a Saiyajin always keeps. His pride," Shinji whispered as a long forgotten lesson began to reassert itself on his mind.

"That's right brat. They can take your body. They can take your mind. They can even take your soul, but they will never take..." Vegeta began.

"...my Pride." Shinji snapped with a little snarl. It was rather pathetic compared to even the weakest snarl from the fallen prince of Vegeta-sei, but it was a start.

"Welcome back, brat. I think this might work out after all," Vegeta responded with a wide smirk. It had begun. Now the fun was about to start.

As the room faded and Shinji became aware of Eva around him again, he heard a triumphant Vegeta exclaim, "_I told you I could bring him back, Onna. What? Ow! How dare you pull on my ear, I am prince of all Saiyajins. He needed that wake up call. You coddle him too much! **OW** Damn it woman! Stop hitting me. If I wasn't older than you I'd claim child abuse! He is me, you know!_"

Shinji actually chuckled and smiled a bit as he said, "I don't know if I'm nuts, or who you're talking to, Vegeta-sama, but it sounds like you have your work cut out for you."

* * *

As this scene took place, the crew was planning to nuke the Angel just to recover Unit 01 as they, well Gendo really, felt the pilot dead, and of not he was at least expendable.

"Both Evas standing by at operating position," Shigeru reported.

Maya acknowledged him with a nod as she responded, "Ready to generate A.T. Field."

"Roger," Ritsuko answered as she lit another cigarette to calm her frayed nerves. She felt horrible about this, and not just because Misato kept glancing at her gun holster an unhealthy number of times. Somehow she felt the Commander might want to increase security and transfer the violet haired strategic officer to another country if Shinji was killed because of the bombing instead of before it.

Makoto announced, "60 seconds to bombing."

* * *

"The Oxygen circulation has stopped," Shinji announced with dread.

"Fu, Fu, F... It's cold... Fuah... No use, the suit has reached its limit," he added as he tried to warm himself without success.

"Now the end..." Shinji declared with a tired sigh.

_"I thought we covered the defeatist shit, brat,_ a voice called out from the back of the pilot's mind.

"Vegeta?" Shinji asked, astonished.

"_Is there anyone else in your head I should know about, baka?_" the prince sarcastically replied.

"No. It's just nice to know I won't be alone here. At the end," Shinji replied with a small grin.

"_End? END! My furry tailed ASS it's the END! We are NOT dying here, brat. We have too many Angels to kill and too much to do. Your father still has too much to answer for. We're getting out of here right now!_" Vegeta snapped with absolute confidence.

"How?" Shinji asked in a worried tone of voice.

"_Use the same trick I taught you as a boy to warm yourself. The one where you circulate and call your ki,_" Vegeta began. As Shinji began to do a he was told he could feel the alien prince smile as he continued, "_Good. Keep doing that as fast and as hard as you can. Yes that's it. Can you see the blue aura beginning to erupt from you? Now concentrate on syncing with this rusty heap you call and EVA and pour all you energy in creating one mighty burst out. She'll do the rest,_" Vegeta instructed.

"She? She who?" Shinji asked in confusion even as he did what he was told.

"_The soul of EVA,_" was the prince's response as the power began to flow into Unit 01 and both pilot and EVA let out a bellow that seemed to personify power and control over your own power at the same time.

"_YES! THAT'S IT! NOW! LET IT ALL GO **NOW**_!" Vegeta cried as the sub-dimension around them seemed to groan and shake.

* * *

Asuka waited patiently for the order to neutralize the Angel's A.T. field with her Unit 02's own when she felt it. It was like a huge static charge in the air that built until the very ground beneath the 'shadow' Angel began to splinter and crack. "What's going on?" The half-German pilot asked nervously.

* * *

"Status?" Misato demanded. Something about this seemed to fill her with an odd sense of hope, but damned if she knew what. All she knew was the itch on her neck was going crazy right now.

"No information," Mokoto responded nervously.

Maya checked her instruments and reported, "All meters at full swing."

"But we have done nothing," Ritsuko replied back in confusion.

"Impossible! Shinji-kun is..." Misato said with hope beginning to light up in her eyes. _I knew he wouldn't let me down/ the beauty thought in triumph._

Ritsuko just gaped in shock as she commented, "Unbelievable. Unit One's energy has reached the zero point."

* * *

The sphere that was the twelveth Angel began to split and emit bright blue light, as well as blood as everyone could feel something building. Finally, the sphere exploded in a hail of gore as Unit 01 seemed to float in mid-air for a moment before if fell to the ground in a crouch. Ad the purple behemoth rose to its feet, it beat its chest and let out a mighty roar as it went into a monkey-like dance for a moment before it's eyes stopped glowing and the unit went silent. (Think the Oozaru dance Gohan does in the opening credits of DBZ form where he was doing survival training with Piccolo and went ape. It's the same one from the intro to the first DBZ Budokai game.)

-  
Asuka felt a sudden and incongruous need to hide her head in shame at the display, as if one of her parents were embarrassing her publicly or something as she asked "Am.. am I riding a thing like that...?"

-  
"What... the hell?" Ritsuko asked herself in confusion. Dancing EVAs were never a part of the scenario.

"iI understand that EVA isn't just a copy of the First Angel, but how is NERV going to use the EVAs after it defeats every Angel? And why do I have a picture in my head of Shinji dancing like that while acting like a jungle man in a loincloth? Misato asked herself with a little giggle at the image.

* * *

It seemed to take no time at all for the entry for Unit 01 to be ejected and for Misato to be right there to tear it open and get to her Shin-chan to check to see if he was alright.

"Shinji-kun, Shinji-kun, Shinji-kun!" Misato demanded as she checked the boy over after his ordeal. "Shinji-kun, are you okay? Shinji-kun!" she demanded as she began to weep.

"...I just wanted to see... again..." Shinji muttered through his exhaustion as Misato continued to cry over him.

"Didn't you say you'd scold him?" Asuka asked with a raised brow as she approached the pair. She'd never admit it, but she wasted to make sure the baka was alive as well.

Misato simply continued to cry.

* * *

Later on in a sickroom, Shinji woke up with Rei by his side.

"Ho-hum," Shinji said in boredom. He was so tired of hospitals.

"_You need a regen tank. I know the fake blond could build one of you leave some old schematics we had to learn for emergency repairs in the field under Frieza lying around,_ Vegeta whispered just soft enough to be heard in the back of Shinji's head.

"You may just rest for today. We'll do everything for you," Rei announced with as much concern as she announces anything.

Shinji looked more distressed at the inaction as he protested, "Hm. But I'm all right now."

Rei actually smirked a bit, something that looked almost Saiyajin on her face as she responded, "Well, that's good for you," in her usual deadpan.

"Hmph..." Shinji huffed as the blunette left the room.

As Rei left, she made sure to discretely push Asuka so the red-head would move from her position hiding near Shinji's room unsure whether or not to go in.

"Ah, oh! Mmm ..." Asuka exclaimed as she tripped in front of the male pilot.

Shinji chuckled once he was sure Asuka was alright, even as he felt Vegeta want to go out and comfort the girl. He'd have to ask about the instinct later.

Shinji idly sniffed the lingering scent of LCL that seemed to have seeped into his pores as he said, "Still smells... of blood..."

In his mind a familiar voice snorted and responded, _Better get used to it, kid. I think we'll be smelling it a lot again from now on._"

END OF THE REST OF PART 1 


End file.
